Europe

  Over the past two years, European policymakers have embraced the term “de-risking” to describe the continent’s recalibrated relationship with China. While the European Union considered China a “systemic rival” in 2019, the bloc no longer seeks full “decoupling,” but aims to reduce exposure in sectors deemed strategic for security and competitiveness. The underlying concern […]

  George Bush, then a presidential candidate, famously said at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans: “read my lips: no new taxes”. The pledge not to tax the American people further was not kept. In 1990, faced with a growing budget deficit, Bush signed the Budget Reconciliation Act, which included increases of the […]

  Europe once again stands at the edge of a technological revolution—this time, in quantum computing. Widely regarded as the next tech frontier, quantum promises capabilities far beyond today’s supercomputers, with applications in drug discovery, battery development, communications, navigation, defense, and cybersecurity. As the United States and China race ahead in artificial intelligence, Brussels sees quantum […]

  On July 17, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill prohibiting the Federal Reserve from creating a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Lawmakers consider the technology a threat to financial privacy and freedom, calling it incompatible with America’s fundamental democratic principles. The bill also codifies U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order from […]

  Recent developments in politics, economics and social cohesion are troubling for Europe. France is on the brink of bankruptcy, with deficits still around 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Other countries – including Germany – are not much better off when one considers not only the official debt but also implicit debt. Implicit […]